Snapshots
by J.R. Godwin
Summary: A collection of short stories from Labyrinth. Continually updated.
1. Dance

**Snapshots**

by J.R. Godwin

Disclaimer: "Labyrinth" belongs to Jim Henson & Co. There's no money being made off of this. This a collection of snapshots that will be updated continually. The only rule: bite-sized bits of fiction set in this universe, many of them inspired by challenges over at Livejournal's "labyfic" community. Privately message me with a 1-word theme, and I will write about it :) I love challenges.

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The first time Jareth showed up at Scrabble night, Sir Didymus was in the middle of beating us mercilessly with a tangled word he swore was German. Hoggle was about to call his bluff, but instead his eyes bulged like tennis balls. The shadows of my room flared to life, and with them, His Nibs.

He surveyed us warily, but his speech held a slight sneer. "Don't you have any other games?"

He pursed his lips when I showed him my Dreamcast, but when I turned the game on, he laughed. Even tried to engage me in another wager, which I refused. Good thing, too, because it turns out the Goblin King is a natural at _Dance Dance Revolution_.


	2. Surrender

You wouldn't think it, but mice are quite the little fighters. They'll bite until their neck is good and broken, then the fun is over. So unless I'm famished, I grant them hope until the end. Generosity is a strength of mine. Just ask any of my subjects.

Likewise, I nurtured Sarah's hope, waiting until the party in her room before reordering time. "That's not fair!" she yelled. Then, at my raised eyebrow, "Well, it isn't!"

I reminded her, "_**Villain**_."

"But I won!"

"True, dearest. But I have power over time, and I can replay it until you forget, or surrender, or both. You were saying? _My kingdom as great_...?"

Her face fell. "Damn, I can never remember that line."


	3. Found

Time has a habit of trickling through my fingers like grains of sand. I forget sometimes that the Roman Empire has fallen. I've forgotten so much. Other things I've willfully pushed from my mind, so loathe am I to remember them. The past can drown a person. Perhaps that's why I no longer remember my real name, or my origins. I think I was human, once.

Sometime after our daughter began to teethe, Eva escaped our watch. Sarah nearly ripped the castle from its foundations seeking her, but no matter. Eva reappeared hours later with all the aplomb of her father, a cheeky grin and a gift for yours truly: a worm-eaten scroll, the inked hieroglyphics faded away, tied with a leather thong and a single white feather.


	4. Kiss

Anyone else would call it puppy love, but the boy would argue otherwise in that headstrong fashion that young men have excelled at for eons. Why, she was his muse, his Beatrice! He would have pulled down the stars from the heavens if doing so would earn him a favored glance! Instead he surprised himself by asking Sarah out, and was even more surprised when she said yes.

He took her to the mall, as she liked, and they spent all their quarters on arcade games, and he bought her ice cream. They walked around the park for a while, and talked about how her mom had left, and his grandma had died. Somehow, your mom abandoning you seemed worse, and the revelation left him awkward and unsure how to respond.

"Can I try something?" Sarah suddenly asked. The shadows were lengthening with the setting sun, turning the park sinister in the waning light.

"Okay," he said, because he was only 16 and eager to please.

She kissed him. If he'd seen it coming, he would have prepared himself, but he didn't. She smelled of gum. He didn't know what she tasted like, because he refused to open his mouth and allow her in. Her mouth was nice - very warm and soft. He would kick himself later.

His eyes were open the whole time, too shocked to close them. Her eyes were closed, her brow furrowed, as if she sought an old friend in the crowd that she just couldn't find. When she pulled back and opened her eyes again, she smiled in a brittle way and said, "Sorry, did I startle you?"

"Haha, no," he said weakly.

The said nothing as they left the park. He didn't know what to do with his hands, so he kept them in his pockets. Sarah seemed particularly interested in the treetops above them, her eyes roaming, hungry. She looked woefully disappointed in the world, and he felt as if he were responsible. They parted ways at the high school. "Can I call you?" he asked. Years later, he would realize that he'd already lost her, but adolescent desperation had given him hope.

"Sure," she said, but she sounded sad and uncertain, and she was still looking over his head at the trees.


End file.
